The Library

One of the good points regarding retirement; is that I can chose to write what I want and when I want.

I have written about choices previously in the Blog. Having to make a choice is in many ways about overcoming the road signs that shape our direction of travel through life. Sometimes we need help in making these decisions. That help can be through the ever present social network that exists in the workplace. Alternatively or probably simultaneously, it is partly a reliance on those who we regard as friends. Friend and family networks often listen and dispense meaningful advice, and although such advice in often invaluable, our choices are also supported by what we have learnt.

This life long learning is gained either through exposure to events that lead to solutions being gained the hard way, or by studying material or behaviours that inform us about a particular topic, or area of interested.

I have a significant chess library which was invaluable for club and tournament play during my informative years as a teenager and on into adulthood. I have several books on the Marshall Attack, a copy of BCO and BCO2 which must be the definitive the linchpin of all chess players learning. That is, weak chess players who rely on set moves to take them from the opening into the middle game. I also have an array of Endgame books and was proud of the manner in which I could conduct an endgame. The problem was reaching that stage of the game, as all too often than not, my open play led to a piece sacrifice here or there. Although amongst all of these books there is only one publication that deserves a place in my bookcase. The book in question is a well read, old ragged copy of Nimzowitsch ‘My System’. Nimzowitsch is as informative to the chess world as Sun Tzu is to Strategic thoughts and thinkers. Unlike ‘My system’ of which I have only one copy, I have four copies of Sun Tzu’s, Art of War. Each of these copies is different, and they do not include Mao’s Treatise; whereby Sun Tzu’s words and phases were remoulded, but actually said the same thing. So in reality I have five copies of the great book in its various forms. I feel like Mel Gibson in ‘Conspiracy Theory’, you know, where he has an urge to keep buying 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Although my earnings pale into insignificance compared to those of the great Mr. Gibson. My understanding of Chess and Strategy also pale into insignificance compared to Sun Tzu and Nimzowitsch.

The down side for the ‘Art of War’ is that it is often misquoted by those who have attended a short managerial course and skimmed a few pages. They quote the book, they quote a few choice phrases but they don’t actually understand the content. The same applies to ‘My System’, like all good books it is in many ways difficult to get to grips with. It is easier to put down, than to read in depth, especially if there is a BCO on the table. But if you persevere then the awards are truly great. Possibly there is a correlation between Nimzowitsch and Sun Tzu. Maybe reading to understand both books, could pay dividends in both the boardroom and on the chess board. They would certainly help you to make the choices that we are often faced with, and maybe, just maybe, get a few of them right.

Ice Station Zebra

Ice Station Zebra

Brrrrrrr, the Ice Man cometh! Temperatures in this part of Wales plummeted to -11 degrees. Great weather for enjoying Ed’s excellent Christmas Hamper and for finding an excuse to meet family and friends for coffee, but grim in terms of staying outdoors or achieving the many DIY tasks that seem to be coming thick and fast now that I am retiring. Amongst the chaos of the ice and snow I am proud of my efforts to keep the path and driveway at our house clear of slip hazards. I even managed to maintain a pathway onto the road so that the numerous car owners at our place; could make it safely to and from their cars. The picture shows yours truly wrapped up for the winter and using a garden hoe to clear the snow and ice. Oh that and a nice stiff broom and a £7 bag of Rock Salt. The long handled hoe meant a slower clearing process, but with the added benefit of no back ache from bending.

Paradigm

It's paradoxical that I have followed the main elements expounded by Nimzowitsch, but yet with my extra space and pawn I am actually losing. To make matters worse it's still very cold in the UK, but thankfully this game is hotting up.

It's probably the hottest thing that I have been near for the last two days with freezing temperatures outside and not much warmth in our lounge at the moment. Mind you I did manage 30 lengths of the swimming pool this afternoon along with a Sauna. Oh, and coffee and meatballs with a good friend of mine in town. Not a lot of meatballs, but a lot of friend. Adam has a FIDE Chess Rating, but that didn't stop him freezing in the cold. I don't have a FIDE rating as I enjoyed the cut and thrust of open play too much. Which in simple terms meant that I really enjoyed my chess, but I lost almost as many games as I won and often against weak opposition against whom I could have slogged it out for a definite win, but at the cost of a very boring few hours. Nothing worse than a boring 6 hour game of chess.

Unlike the cold, which I don't enjoy at all. It bit into the skin, especially when we went shopping and back to the car. The cold was made worse in that my Bro sent me a £45 pair of gloves yesterday and in a made rush across town I left them in the boot. Now there's a logistical preparedness lesson if there ever was one. Well two lessons really; [1] remember your gloves, or [2] move to a warmer climate. I bet that it's quite warm in Accra at the moment, but not as warm as the position in the game between Roger from Wales and Jeffers from Ghana that began on the 6th January 2010.